


Semi-Permanent

by Voyaelm



Series: Detect the Assassin of the Stars [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Banter, Cuddling, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, OT3, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-24 00:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20017351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voyaelm/pseuds/Voyaelm
Summary: Shuichi comes home from a draining day at work. Kaito and Maki comfort him and talk about a special gift.—Non-Despair AU





	Semi-Permanent

**Author's Note:**

> hey so this is the first work in this series focusing on their relationship! i really love this ot3 and i hope u guys do to!  
> —  
> im also only putting this out rn cause im not done with my new Oumami story and i wanted to post!

Shuichi drops his bag off by the front door and leans down to untie his shoes. He manages to get one untied until a small shiver wracks his body. 

Today… could have been better. He doesn’t want to remember it; so when he gets shoes off, he walks through the hall drearily.  _ Would a shower help? Would anything help? Why did they make me the lead on this case?  _

He steps into the living room only to see Kaito and Maki curled up on the couch. Kaito’s scrolling through his phone and Maki’s reading a book. 

Not wanting to bother them — or not wanting them to bother him — he tries to be as quiet as possible. But that isn’t possibly with Maki’s ‘eagle vision’. 

“Welcome back, Shuichi.” She says, prompting Kaito to drop his phone. 

“How was today, Mr. Lead Detective?” Kaito asks, fingers tangling against Maki’s. Shuichi takes a deep breath then averts his eyes, looking to the bathroom door.  _ Maki must have told him.  _ He begins to walk towards it; but before he can grab the handle, Kaito’s hand is suddenly on his shoulder.  _ Damn he’s quick _ .

“Kai-”

“What’s wrong?” His voice is worried, even though he tries to keep it calm and collected. Shuichi looks behind himself and locks eyes with Kaito. His irises are filled to the brim with concern. 

_ Honestly, there’s a lot. But I don’t wanna worry him. I’ll be fine,  _ Shuichi thinks. He settles on a simple answer that’ll stop Kaito from prying. “Stress. I’m just...stressed.” He sighs. Kaito frowns, hand falling down to hold Shuichi’s. He squeezes, and Shuichi squeezes back. 

Maki peeks into view behind Kaito, trying to pull him away from Shuichi. He budges a few inches, then Maki stops. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

“No, I-I,” Shuichi clears his throat and tries his sentence again, “I think I’m gonna shower. Maybe that’ll help.”

Maki nods. 

“Can I jo- ah! Maki-Roll!” Kaito yells, rubbing his arm from where Maki elbowed him. She reaches for his hand and tugs him back towards the couch. 

Shuichi feels a small smile pull at the corners of his lips. It usually wasn’t a problem; Shuichi rarely minded when he or Maki wanted to join him in the shower, but he appreciates her shove. He needs his alone time, and Maki knows that.  _ At least I have one partner who can read a room _ . 

Shuichi shuts the bathroom door behind himself, leans against it, and slides to the floor. His eyes fill with tears of frustration and relief. They roll down his soft cheeks silently. 

It takes a few minutes before he brings himself to get up and start the shower. As he checks the water with the back of his hand, Shuichi starts undressing.

Stepping into the hot stream of water feels like paradise after the day he’s had. He lets the pressure work his muscles and the heat seep into his skin. Idly, he wonders if could stay here forever. 

When he steps out of the shower, he sees a set of sleep clothes and a towel folded up on the sink. He smiles, reaching out for the towel to dry himself off.  _ It’s warm _ , Shuichi notes. Not the same warmth that fills the room after a hot shower either, but something else. He wouldn’t be surprised if one of them — probably Maki. She’s always been better at sneaking — came in and left it after taking it from the dryer. 

They aren’t sitting on the couch when Shuichi leaves the bathroom after getting dressed. He turns down the hall and sees their bedroom door open. Deciding that they are probably in there, Shuichi walks towards the door. 

Kaito and Maki are lounging on the bed, with Maki sitting between Kaito’s legs, idly chatting until Kaito turns looks up. 

“Shuichi!” He calls, staring at the other man's half-obscured face. “Come sit with us for a bit!”

Shuichi does as he’s told and walks over to their bed, sinking into the soft foam when he sits down next to Katio.

After they bought their house, Kaito insisted that they buy the biggest bed possible. ‘C’mon Shuichi! It’ll be worth it!’ He wasn’t wrong. Even with three people sharing the bed, there was still quite a bit of extra room. But Kaito would get a bed that spanned wall-to-wall if Maki and Shuichi let him. 

While he muses, Maki reaches over to the nightstand and grabs something Shuichi can’t see from his spot. She brings it closer, and Shuichi can tell it’s a mug. “I made you some tea.” 

“And I helped!” Kaito chimes in happily. Shuichi smiles. Just being around Kaito makes him feel lighter. He presses into the other man’s shoulder while he takes the hot mug from Maki. 

He takes a sip and relaxes. As usual, it’s delicious. Maki makes the best tea. 

“Thank you, Maki.” She smiles and nods, leaning against Kaito. 

The room is silent for a minute before Maki asks, “Do you want to talk about today?”

“No, not really . This case is just… getting to me, I guess.” Although the case wasn’t classified, he didn’t plan to add on. In truth, it was stressful. He was probably overwhelmed, in over his head. _I mean, I’m the lead on this._ _What if I mess up? What if I get it wrong. What happens if I-_

Shuichi is pulled from his thoughts by a loud snap. He tosses his head and directs his full attention to the noise.

Turns out it was Kaito who had snapped in front of his face. 

“Hey I know that look. Get those thoughts out of your head; they’re never good.”

“Yeah, I just-” Shuichi squeezes his eyes shut, trying to force the bad thoughts from his mind. “I’m okay.” 

“It’s okay if you aren’t,” Kaito says, “you don’t have to force being alright. You can be not alright. Just don’t beat yourself up over it.” 

“How do you always know what to say?” 

“I know my sidekicks.” Kaito smiles, throwing arm around Shuichi’s shoulder. 

Shuichi thanks him as he brings his mug to his mouth. The heat burns his tongue, but he still drinks — the numbing sensation becomes welcoming. 

“I honestly expected you to tell me to, like, man up or something…” 

“I was gonna, but Maki told me I wasn’t allowed.” Shuichi looks over to Maki, hoping to confirm Kaito’s statement. She shrugs and Shuichi laughs. “Hey!” 

“Learn to be nice when he’s upset. We don’t tell you to ‘man up’ when you hear weird creaking in the middle of the night, do we?” She bumps the back of her head into the middle of Kaito’s chest in punctuation.

“Maki, it’s really al-” 

“It’s scary!” Kaito yells, “What if it’s a… gho-ghost or something??”

“It’s not a ghost.”

“Yeah. I don’t think ghosts can interact with real objects. It’s probably just the wind.” Shuichi mutters in reassurance even though he’s not sure that’s true. 

“Soooo,” Kaito starts, “Enough of that! Let’s get back to our conversation, eh Maki-Roll?” 

Sure enough, they begin talking again. Taking a large drink of his tea, Shuichi zones out. He doesn’t know how long it’s been before he finally drains the mug and starts to tongue at the thick wedge of lemon sitting at the bottom. His hearing returns as the bitter juice coats his tongue.

“Kaito, they’re an okay idea, but they’re a big commitment.”

“I know, I know; I’ve heard it before.” Kaito waves a hand to dismiss her worry. “But I’ve thought about getting a matching one for  _ so  _ long and I’d love to do it with you guys.”

“Tattoos?” Shuichi interrupts, still out of it.  _ Is that what they were talking about?  _

“Yep! I think they’d be nice when head up to space. Give ya something to remember me by!” Kaito slams a hand against Shuichi’s back lovingly. Shuichi flushes when his touch turns soft, a gentle rub starting up across his shoulders. It’s nice. 

“Are you allowed to have tattoos in space?”

Kaito nods. “Even called my boss up to ask and he said as long as it’s not visible when I’m up at the station.”

“Which means no neck, no arm, no face.” Maki lists off on her fingers. Well, two of those would be about of the question for all three of them. And the other isn’t possible for Kaito or Maki. It’d be bad if she was on a job and someone found a permanent way to identify her. 

“A leg tattoo would be the best bet then.” Shuichi offers, setting his empty mug between his knees. 

Kaito perks up, making Shuichi smile. “I’m down for that! Then we should totally do it, right Shuichi?!”

Stuttering over his words, Shuichi is able to squeak out an, “I-I guess?” 

“We aren’t getting them right away.” Maki stares Kaito down before turning back to Shuichi. “Or at all if you’re uncomfortable.”

She must have noticed his apprehension. “No, I’m… it’s just a bit sud-sudden.” 

“So, we’re doing this?” Kaito asks hopefully.

“It’ll take some time to come up with designs, but yeah. I’ll do it.”

“Me too,” Maki agrees, “it sounds nice.” 

Kaito starts to scold her for her sudden interest after having just dissed his idea a few minutes ago.

A pact between three, badly adjusted adults — in truth, two badly adjusted adults and Maki. It does sound nice. Matching tattoos between lovers usually spell doom for the relationship, but Shuichi isn’t worried. He thinks — no he knows — that their relationship is stronger than that. 

He’s worried about choosing the tattoos getting too stressful on him. But, with Maki and Kaito by his side, it’ll be easier.   
  


**Author's Note:**

> If you’re wonder why Kaito is so excited to get matching tattoos, it’s because I headcanon him as an extremely sentimental fuck and this means so much to him. You’ll get more story on this when I write more, but it means A LOT to Kaito for them — specifically Shuichi— to do this with him.   
> —  
> feel free to request something for them to do! also lemme know if you liked it! feedback’s my life blood and i really wanna write more for them!


End file.
